Appian for SharePoint: another link to MOSS

Appian announced on June 2nd 2008 the availability of Appian for SharePoint. Thus Appian become another independent BPMS vendor that has decided to provide tighter integration to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS).

So what do you get from Appian? Well Appian say that it will enable users of the MOSS platform to take advantage of the process orchestration, task handling, and process reporting capabilities of the Appian platform. The Appian SharePoint WebPart interfaces can be used to handle tasks and display any process performance reports in a native SharePoint dashboard. Appian for SharePoint also gives process designers greater control over workflow and processes in the SharePoint environment. It also provides services interfaces for controlling SharePoint Sites, documents, folders, and permissions through Appian processes and rules.

Matthew Calkins, President and CEO of Appian, said, “Business process management and workflow are crucial areas where SharePoint’s basic capabilities need to be supplemented to realize maximum value. Many of our customers plan to use Appian for SharePoint as a powerful yet simple mechanism for bringing the power of process innovation into the hands of SharePoint users.”

Who gains? Well Appian gain by exploiting the connection to Microsoft Office. Microsoft gain by having another BPMS vendor link to their Office 2007 platform. This should help them convince more organisations to upgrade to 2007. Lastly, users of the Office 2007 gain by having more choice of BPMS products that will work tightly with their chosen office platform.